


A Big Heart

by honestmischief



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Hospital Visit, Hospitals, Injury, Ironhusbands Bingo 2020, M/M, POV Peter Parker, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Relationship Reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:26:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25413133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honestmischief/pseuds/honestmischief
Summary: The thought of Mr. Rhodes sitting alone in his hospital room made Peter feel uneasy, even though they had only exchanged a few words to each other in Germany. It didn’t feel right for Peter to do nothing.
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 21
Kudos: 401
Collections: Ironhusbands Bingo 2020





	A Big Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Title: A Big Heart  
> Author: honestmischief  
> Square Filled: N4- Peter Parker  
> Card Number: 2008  
> Rating: T  
> Pairing(s): James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Tony Stark  
> Warnings/Triggers: POV Peter Parker  
> Summary: The thought of Mr. Rhodes sitting alone in his hospital room made Peter feel uneasy, even though they had only exchanged a few words to each other in Germany. It didn’t feel right for Peter to do nothing.
> 
> Thank you Gavilan for beta-reading! You're the best :)

When Peter returned from Germany, the uneasiness in his stomach never went away. It had been present since he’d seen War Machine crash. Mr. Stark hadn’t updated him on his condition except for telling him that he was medically stable, and Peter couldn’t stop worrying about him no matter how hard he tried. It was great that he was stable, but it didn’t feel good enough. Peter had taken enough biology classes to know that Mr. Rhodes wasn’t going to be alright after a fall from the sky like that.

He didn’t know how Mr. Stark expected him to just return to school and everyday life like nothing had happened. Peter couldn’t possibly team up with Iron Man and a bunch of other cool superheroes and then go back to being a normal 15-year-old kid. No, he was Spider-Man, and he had to stick up for anyone who needed his help, including Mr. Rhodes. He wasn’t exactly sure how he could help, but he felt like he needed to do _something._ They were a team, and Peter wanted to be there for him.

Finding the hospital room of an important Air Force Colonel and Avenger wasn’t easy, especially for a high school kid from Queens. He couldn’t just call up Columbia Medical and ask for War Machine’s room number. First, he tried calling Happy, but he wouldn’t tell him and said that he shouldn’t worry about Mr. Rhodes. It wasn’t like Peter could simply turn his worries off.

Peter didn’t exactly enjoy hacking into things. It wasn’t his favorite kind of science, but he didn’t have another choice. He couldn’t call Mr. Stark and he didn’t know who else would have the information that he needed. So he wasn’t proud of it, but it was done with good intentions, so that made it slightly okay, right? After a couple of hours, Peter found out that Mr. Rhodes was staying in room 839. He didn’t try to find his medical chart, that would have been taking it too far. Peter didn’t want to be too much of a criminal. Mr. Stark had definitely hacked into things in the past, so Peter tried not to feel too bad about it.

As soon as he found out the room number, he immediately made his way to Manhattan. He couldn’t sit in his apartment and wait for an update that would probably never come. The thought of Mr. Rhodes sitting alone in his hospital room made Peter feel uneasy, even though they had only exchanged a few words to each other in Germany. It didn’t feel right for Peter to do nothing.

He really wasn’t sure how he was going to physically get into Mr. Rhodes’ room. There was definitely going to be security for an important figure like Mr. Rhodes, so Peter couldn’t just put on his suit and crawl on the ceiling. He was sure that he’d get caught.

Peter thought that maybe he could lie and say he was a family member, but he didn’t like lying. Another option was to try to distract security and run in, but that probably wasn’t going to work either. It was so annoying that he had to try to find a way to get through security. He was definitely going to become an Avenger one day.

By the time Peter arrived at the hospital, he still didn’t have a plan. He was going to have to wing it. He made it through the lobby and into the elevator without any trouble, but he couldn’t get to Mr. Rhodes’ hospital room without checking in at the front desk on the floor.

He was screwed.

“Can I see an ID?” the lady asked when she noticed Peter. She wore a name tag that said her name was Sarah.

“I’m a minor,” he was quick to respond. He wasn’t even old enough to get a driver’s permit, so hopefully that would work in his favor.

“I can’t let you visit anyone without an adult,” Sarah told him with a frown.

Peter inhaled sharply, trying to think of something to say. He hadn’t even thought of that.

“I’m really mature for my age, Ma’am. I go to a school for gifted students, and I’ve babysat the kid living across the hall from me a few times and managed not to burn the apartment down-”

“He’s with me,” Peter heard a man say as he gently rested a hand on his shoulder.

Peter turned his head and felt his mouth open in shock when he saw that it was Tony Stark. He knew that there was a good chance that he was going to get caught, but he didn’t think that Mr. Stark would have been the one to do it.

“Oh, of course, Mr. Stark!” Sarah replied.

She prepared visitors passes for both of them, but Mr. Stark pulled Peter to the side of the hallway before going to Mr. Rhodes’ room.

“What are you doing here, kid? How did you even get this far?” Mr. Stark asked.

Peter didn’t want to lie to him, but he also didn’t want to admit to Iron Man that he had hacked into the biggest hospital network in the city’s network to find Mr. Rhodes’ hospital room.

“I wanted to see how he was doing,” Peter told him, hoping that it was enough of an explanation. He then decided to add, “Seeing him get hurt was scary and I’ve been worried every day.”

Mr. Stark tilted his head to the side, appearing to be deep in thought.

“You were going to tell him who you are?” Mr. Stark questioned.

“I wasn’t sure if I was going to get that far. I have my mask in my pocket, but I feel like he could keep a secret,” Peter said with a shrug.

He honestly didn’t know much about Mr. Rhodes, but he did know that he’d been good friends with Mr. Stark since they were in college. If Mr. Stark could be trusted with Peter’s secret, Mr. Rhodes probably could too.

“How is he?” Peter asked, realizing he still didn’t know.

Mr. Stark let out a long and devastated sigh before saying, “He broke two vertebrae in his lumbar spine. The doctors don’t think that he’ll walk again on his own, but he will have partial leg movement and sensation.”

Peter felt himself wince in response. Paralysis wasn’t surprising, but he’d really been hoping it wouldn’t happen. He couldn’t bring himself to lift his eyes from the ground and look at Mr. Stark. He couldn’t imagine how worried Mr. Stark was for his best friend.

“There’s no need to worry, kid. This is Rhodey we’re talking about. He’s the strongest guy I know.”

Peter finally looked up, still feeling a little shaky, but glad that Mr. Stark was optimistic. He was able to see the sadness in Tony’s eyes, but his hope was most evident.

“That’s good. I’m glad he’ll be okay,” Peter said. When he was still at the airport, Peter hadn’t been so sure.

“Want to go in?” Mr. Stark asked.

Peter nodded, and then followed Mr. Stark to the hospital room. His stomach churned as he walked. He’d only been inside a hospital a few times. He still had a vague memory of seeing his parents when he was really young. It wasn’t something that he liked to remember. He knew that he was doing the right thing, though. Mr. Rhodes was on his team, and Peter thought that he deserved some kindness. Peter also wanted to be there.

When they entered, Mr. Rhodes was in bed, but sitting up with some pillows behind his back. He was reading a book that he quickly put down on his end table when he noticed that he had visitors.

“Do you have food, Tones? I swear if I have to eat one more jello cup, I’m going to puke,” Mr. Rhodes said with a grin.

Mr. Stark let out a low chuckle. “Did you really think that I’d abandon you to an eternity of jello cups, Honeybear?”

“Your diet mainly consists of coffee, pizza, and cheeseburgers, so forgive me for assuming the worst.”

“Oh, you know me so well,” Mr. Stark replied before taking four cheeseburgers out of a brown paper bag.

It was strangely domestic, Peter thought.

“Who’s this?” Mr. Rhodes asked, looking right at Peter.

“I’m Peter,” he told him, before realizing that it probably wasn’t a helpful answer. “Uh, I’m Spider-Man. I wanted to see how you were doing”

Mr. Rhodes’ lips quirked up into a smile. “Well, it’s nice to officially meet you, Peter. Have a cheeseburger with us.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Mr. Rhodes,” he said.

Mr. Rhodes grimaced before replying, “You make me feel so old. Call me Rhodey.”

“It’s not going to happen, Platypus. He’s been calling me Mr. Stark since we met.”

Peter had no idea why he was called Platypus, but Mr. Stark seemed to have a lot of interesting nicknames for people. It didn’t stop Peter from being reminded of Perry the Platypus, though. Peter realized that he was kind of like Perry in a way. When he put his Spider-Man suit on, he had another identity, like a secret agent. All he needed was a catchy theme song. He could work on that later.

They began to eat their cheeseburgers, and Peter suddenly realized how hungry he was. He understood why Mr. Stark liked cheeseburgers so much: they were delicious.

“When you brought Peter in the room I thought you had a kid and didn’t tell me. I’m surprised the nurses didn’t think I was having a heart attack,” Mr. Rhodes said between bites.

“How could I not tell you if I had a kid? We’re with each other every day and I’m not that good of a liar,” Mr. Stark said back to him.

“You’re only bad at lying to me. But it would be pretty fu-” Rhodey started to stay, but his eyes widened as he paused, “messed up if you kept a secret like that from me.”

Observing the exchange brought a warm feeling to Peter’s chest. It kind of reminded him of Aunt May and Uncle Ben. They engaged in similar banter.

_Oh._

“Wait, are you two…” Peter began to ask, but the question drifted into silence when he couldn’t think of the right words to say.

Mr. Stark raised an eyebrow. “Are we what, Peter?”

“You know,” Peter replied while waving his hands vaguely. Mr. Stark clearly knew what he was talking about. He just wanted to be annoying.

“Stop messing with the kid, Tones,” Mr. Rhodes said with a playful hit to Mr. Stark’s bicep. “We’re engaged.”

Peter had had no idea that they were even together before he arrived at the hospital, but for some reason, he wasn’t surprised at all. Mr. Stark and Mr. Rhodes fit perfectly with each other. Peter couldn’t imagine them not dating, even though he’d only been in the same room as the two of them for a short amount of time.

“Oh!” Peter exclaimed. “That’s great. When’s the wedding? Can I come? I mean, only if you’d like me to, I don’t want to impose.”

Mr. Rhodes let out an amused laugh. “It’s hard to find the time for a wedding when your fiancé is a superhero.”

“You’re a superhero too!” Mr. Stark said.

Peter was glad that both Mr. Rhodes and Mr. Stark seemed to be doing alright. Of course, Mr. Rhodes was going to need rehabilitation after leaving the hospital, but the two of them looked hopeful and happy to still be together, and that was what mattered most.

They finished their cheeseburgers and talked some more until Aunt May called him and asked him when he’d be home for dinner.

“Thank you for visiting, Peter. It means a lot,” Mr. Rhodes said.

“Yeah, of course! I wanted to come. I’m glad you’re doing alright. I hope you don’t have to eat more jello cups.”

Mr. Rhodes smiled. “Me too.”

Mr. Stark offered to walk him out of the hospital, but paused before Peter was able to leave the lobby.

“You have a big heart, you know that, kid?”

Aunt May told him that pretty often. She’d always said that Peter had a kind soul, and he liked to think that it was true.

“Thank you, Mr. Stark.”.

“I’m sure Rhodey would love for you to come visit again. Are you able to stop by on Saturday?”

“Yeah!” Peter was quick to say. “I’ll be here, I promise!”

Peter already couldn’t wait for Saturday.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first rhodeytony fic, I hope you liked it! I have some vague ideas on how to continue this, so maybe I'll make a series if I get around to it :)


End file.
